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I was only trying to point out that the very act of watching a football game is not sinful however your priest surely desired to raise his flock to the more perfect path especially given all the hoopla people place on this particular game.

I have no reason to believe that football in general is to be avoided, although perhaps this discussion could include more than just the SuperBowl. But, for the sake of common ground, it was only the SuperBowl that the priest was referring to, not football or even televised football in general.

Essentially we should be completely docile to the spiritual advice that is given to us by our priests since they have been given the grace of state to guide us to Heaven. We should also use common sense, prudence and discretion without seeing sin in every single detail which chokes our spiritual life from developing.

I could be wrong, but when topics such as television, beaches, and vacations come up in sermons, I'm not left with the same impression as matters of devotions, suggested spiritual reading, and the like. The latter are suggestions which guide our spiritual lives which some will follow and some will not, the former we are instructed to avoid altogether. When you speak of something which "chokes" one's spiritual life, how could it not be at least an occasion of sin? Can you give me an example of something which fits this description? If you speak of things done excessively, I understand, as anything can interfere with one's spiritual life when done in excess.

We should of course avoid all the occasions of sin and in order to grow in holiness avoid even lawful pleasures (according to our duty of state) from time to time to strengthen our will. However we should also keep in mind that pleasure (lawful) is often needed to help us along this valley of tears. It is all a matter of putting things in their proper place.

I, for one, have no problem finding plenty of pleasurable things to distract me from what I should be doing whether it be duty of state or spiritual duties. Having to be reminded to "enjoy yourself" or "relax" just sounds silly to me as it's our nature to do so. Generally, it's finding the time to do such things that's occasionally a problem, not finding something to do given the extensive (ha!) list of things Father has told me not to do.